The holidays are here, which means shopping for presents.

One thing that I have found on my adventures trying to come up with gifts for people is that I like the thrill of giving someone something that they absolutely love. For me, that makes the whole season. I found this to be especially true when it comes to giving to my significant other.

Finding presents for your boyfriend/girlfriend can be nerve-wracking. You want to find them something good that they will like, but you can’t just get them a box of chocolates and be done with it.

That is why the theme for this month’s In Focus is about relationships and dating. Coming up to the holidays, people need to take a step back and enjoy what they have. The holidays and break create a unique time where people are expected to spend time with their loved ones.

Dating in college is a unique experience, where people are experimenting and looking for a potential lifelong partner. Our world of dating has also significantly evolved because of social media and technology. The roles that our parents had can’t compare to what is happening now because of the upgraded media. There’s new terminology and lingo that goes along with dating and it’s more unique in college than it is either before or after college as well.

So this winter break when you are talking with your parents about how your best friend just made his relationship Facebook official, remember they might not know what that is and feel free to use our vocabulary definitions as your guide.

For me, the most helpful part about this section was the advice column. The advice given about relationships can apply to this stressful time of the holidays.

For example, finding presents. It’s a mind game to me, or at least I probably think about it too much and make it one. I want to get that person something that costs as least as much, if not more, than what they got me. The present needs to say that I spent a lot of time thinking about them and what I wanted to get them, as well as say that I know you enough to know what to get that you will like, at least more than the average person would have been able to do.

However, I always find after I have done my part in sweating and being nervous about the gift, that it doesn’t really matter that much. It’s the thought that counts and really makes the gifts worthwhile.

One of the more touching and most loved gifts I have ever given to my significant other had cost me less than $20. It was a wooden box that I painted and wrote the words to our song on. I also took a song and rewrote it to match things we did in our relationship. He loved the presents so much, he cried and I have never seen him cry before for anything.

So the point to my gift-giving story is basically that relationships can be hard, no matter what age, gender, race or sexuality you are. They can be over thought or under thought. They are fragile and yet strong. Some people seem to be in them all the time, while others can’t even find one person to be with. Relationships evolve and change person to person and even through time. Happy Holidays.